The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda

Author:Kaira Rouda [Rouda, Kaira]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2021-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 32

ASHLYN

I sit on the living room couch and search my dad’s phone. It turns up a lot of useful information. The most stunning is the number of times my parents were talking, and what they were talking about.

I think they were falling in love again, despite what my mom just told me. He’d changed her name in his contacts to Mabel, an old nickname or something I remembered hearing. But it was Mom’s number.

My mom’s texts were flirty and supportive. They arranged lunch dates, and she asked about his health and made sure he was taking time to exercise.

It’s sort of surreal. Their text exchanges were normal, as if my dad wasn’t married to Tish at all.

But Tish was reading Dad’s texts. Dad warned Mom as much. So of course Tish worried she was losing him. I would have.

I don’t like how you’re treating me. I know you’ve been talking to HER. Tish texted my dad, just a week before he died. I won’t put up with it. You’ve been warned.

And this, a few days later: How dare you John? I won’t stand for this.

And about my mom, She’s horrible. She’s watching me. She’s trying to break us up!

If I were reading these exchanges, I would have been worried about what my mom and dad were planning, too. My poor dad. He seemed so sad and stressed the last time we had any quality time together. It was lunch, a week before the IPO. We met for pizza, just like the old times. No Tish. No Mom. Just the two of us at our favorite table at Tommy’s.

“You look terrible, Dad,” I said as soon as I sat down. And he did.

“This thing should wrap up in a week, and then I’ll get some sleep, some peace, have some fun again,” Dad said.

“You and Tish, you aren’t getting along, are you?” I said, and watched his reaction. He hadn’t told me anything, but I’d been keeping an eye on everything at the office. When you’re an intern, you have plenty of time to poke around. Tish and Dad weren’t kissing in the hallway or holding hands in his office anymore. The horrible PDA other people in the office had told me about had stopped by the time I arrived for the summer, thank goodness. Whenever I stopped by to see Dad, the door to his office was closed. Before, it was open so he and Tish could flirt from her desk just outside his door.

“Oh, honey, it’s hard. I have made some mistakes. I need to fix things, but I’ve got to get through the IPO first,” he said.

My heart beat a bit faster, and I grinned like a he’d made a promise, because to me he had. I pull myself out of my memories when I hear the knock.

It’s Seth. I open the front door and step outside, joining him on the front porch.

“Hey, how are you holding up?” We’ve been best friends since elementary school. His presence now means a lot.

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